Space of art

Ristorante Frescobaldi London and ContiniArtUK

Aside from being one of Italy’s leading wine producers, the Frescobaldi have been a collector and patron of the arts since the Renaissance. The family famously traded wine for works of art with Michelangelo. In the mid-fifteenth century, Stoldo Frescobaldi commissioned Filippo Brunelleschi to build the Basilica of Santo Spirito next to his palace in Florence.

Later, in the mid-seventeenth century, Bartolomeo Frescobaldi appointed the legendary Lorenzo Lippi to paint his family portraits. More recently the Artisti per Frescobaldi, a contemporary annual art award, opened a new chapter in the relationship between the family and the arts.

The interiors of Ristorante Frescobaldi London reflect this heritage, dominated as they are by huge Commedia Dell’ Arte-inspired ceramic murals commissioned from Turkish artist Sedat Girgin.

With acclaimed new art gallery ContiniArtUK as a neighbour, it was inevitable that a collaboration would ensue.

From 6th March 2015, Ristorante Frescobaldi will be hosting regularly changing exhibitions featuring some of the gallery’s leading artists, among them Paolo Vega, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mario Arlati.

From 23rd April 2015, both the restaurant and the gallery will be hosting a new exhibition by Omar Hassan, an acclaimed young talent who uses spray paint as both a material and a sculptural object to make new statements within the ever-expanding genre of street art.

Ristorante Frescobaldi’s stunning design, with its oak panelling and illuminated circular shelving stacked with wine, will provide an arresting backdrop for these important artworks, and an exciting counterpoint to the gallery’s more minimalist displays.